“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Howard bought a small tempera of mine picturing two apples; and then to Jane’s surprise he bought off the wall of our apartment a small abstract oil that Jane and I had produced jointly, in a humorous attempt at working together. [...] It was the first piece of art work Jane had ever sold, and she was pleased.

(Jane well remembers the evening when she first consciously conceived Idea Construction, and so do I. Checking her manuscripts yields the date of September 10,1963, as when she made her first notes. I remember walking out to the living room where she writes her poetry, having finished my own work in my studio in the back of the apartment at about 9 PM; Jane’s first words were “Boy, have I got a great idea,” or to that effect. [...]

(Jane will now write to Marie to see if Seth is correct; if not, or the data is distorted, Jane will try to learn from Marie what association she could have been involved in with water. [...]

(Jane exchanged phone calls with Betty Taylor [of Harcourt Brace, among other publishers] on September 8 & 9. Betty Taylor called Jane first. [...]

(It had been suggested that Jane do stage trance work when addressing the SFF meeting. Jane had decided she wasn’t interested in this type of stage presentation.)

[...] As Jane spoke I had the odd feeling that she, Seth, and I were all thinking about different events. [...] I could see that Jane was also.)

[...] Jane was dissociated as usual. [...] Jane yawned and remarked that if she could be out until the end of the session she would be quite happy. [...] I also felt the sessions were threatened, though I did not say so, but Jane instantly sensed my mood. [...]

(Last night was the official opening of the Chemung County Artists’ Show at the Arnot Art Gallery, where Jane is employed part time. [...] After supper Jane lay down for a nap, rather early, because she wanted to be able to take her time getting ready. [...]

[...] Jane was dissociated as usual. [...] In some way we do not yet understand, much energy is taken from us while Jane is dictating; I sometimes feel that I too am in a trance state when she is speaking. [...]

(I was of course much interested, and knew that Jane was too. Jane now closed her eyes and sat quietly for a moment.)

[...] Jane was dissociated as usual. [...] Seth had the next thought or concept waiting, Jane said, and all she had to do was give voice to it.

[...] The data contain references to both slips, although Seth or Jane did not identify them as such, or refer to the fact that there were two test objects, as I had hoped. Jane said that during the test she was not sure of the source of information, Seth or herself.

[...] He asked how Jane was, asked about her work, and books, and commented quite positively on her recovery from the recent infection and fever. “She’s very resilient, isn’t she?” he said, and I could tell that he was very pleasantly surprised and pleased at Jane’s performance. [...]

(After today’s session — the first since February 22 — I told Jane that my plan when she resumed sessions was to type the session material only, and not the daily notes about her physical condition, temperature, and so forth, unless there was something out of the ordinary to note. [...]

(Jane was pleased to hear my account of the meeting. [...]

[...] Jane recalled being called a fraud by a fellow student in college, and by my mother. [...] I kept trying to go back to what had happened before Jane got her symptoms, before she became well-known, and so forth. [...]

(When Jane spoke for Seth her voice was rather quiet, since it was still sort of raspy from yesterday’s laryngitis, or whatever she’d had. [...] A strong wind — very strong at times — had sprung up this afternoon, and at times I had trouble hearing Jane above its noise. [...]

[...] It also showed me that even Jane’s poetry was suspect, where I’d been under the impression that the poetry was the one aspect of her creative abilities that was essentially free, or uncontaminated by fears or doubts. For years I’d thought that if Jane had done only poetry, she’d have had minimal troubles, if any.)

[...] Jane had a time coming out of the trance. [...] Jane agreed with my idea that Seth put her into deeper trance in order to allow the material to come through [since it is emotional, related to friends and so forth. After five or ten minutes Jane felt better, and had a cigarette.]

[...] (Jane’s head drooped) His activities will cause a near-(underlined) crisis situation at the paper. He is squeezing the life from it symbolically and he senses the emotional (Jane’s voice sounded almost drugged here) crisis toward which he is propelled. [...]

(In this last segment of the session, Jane’s voice was extremely low, and dwindled almost into nothing as the last words were spoken. [...] Jane didn’t feel particularly well before the session. [...]

(Tam Mossman and his fiancée Eve had been our guests over the past weekend, May 2—4; he had heartily approved the work Jane has completed on the Seth book and we thought that this belief might have something to do with Jane’s very relaxed state. Jane said no conscious suggestions, that she was aware of, had been involved today or this evening. Tam is Jane’s editor at Prentice-Hall, Inc.

(Jane and I sat for the session as usual on Monday, May 5, but it was not held. Jane at session time was in an extremely relaxed state, and she could not bring Seth through, although we waited until 10 PM.

(Jane said the sensations were “like a loss of tension,” and I thought it was a general release from her symptoms, at least temporarily, plus a dissociated state. While sitting in the usual rocking chair she uses during sessions, Jane said that at times she felt as though she were outside the house, enjoying the spring air, grass, flowers, etc. [...]

(Jane was ready for the session at 8:45, so we sat for it in our bedroom for extra privacy. Seth didn’t appear; however, although Jane said she felt him around at various times. [...] The girl’s name was Sharabena, and she was Jane in that life as I was Nebene.

[...] Now Jane looked rather uncomfortable. [...] Jane also endorses this idea.

[...] Jane spoke too rapidly much of the time for verbatim notes also. [...] “We were called Zaphorites then, “ Jane said. [...]

(Sometime after 9 PM Jane and I sat to see if Seth would come through. I told Jane she needn’t have a session, but she was willing enough if Seth decided to. [...]

(Usually, Jane said, she “forgets” as soon as the session is over, whether or not she had images while holding it; unless I ask specifically. Jane said that when she has images they seem so natural to her during the session that she doesn’t think of mentioning them later—they are on the way out as soon as the session is over.

(After we had talked a bit I deduced that Seth/Jane had been trying for the word Stonehenge—meaning the ancient Druidic stone monoliths, arranged in a circle in England, etc. Jane then said this was the word Seth had been trying to get her to say. [...]

(A remark she made yesterday probably had helped crystallize my own new determination to do something about what seemed to be a badly eroding situation: She said that Tam had recently told her that Mass Events was due to be published on the 13th—today—with God of Jane due out early in May. These two books are, I think we agree, the most recent triggers that she has responded to in a negative way, so yesterday I suddenly realized that Jane must be reacting presently to the imminent publication of those two works. [...]

[...] The idea isn’t that a stay in the hospital will work a miracle cure —though I’d be delighted if it did —but that some help or easing of Jane’s symptoms might eventually be achieved through therapy or whatever. [...] Interesting, to speculate about why I’ve concurred in Jane’s dogged avoidance in seeking establishment medical help.

(“We’ve got to get the information,” I told Jane, and found myself repeating a lot of what I’d said to Seth; I felt the emotional charges behind the questions once again. Jane was very glum. [...]

(Before the session I had asked Jane if Seth could give me some more data on the art and gallery material begun in the last session. I was going to try to put it to practical use, I told Jane not to try too hard, though, to get more data. [...]

(Then Jane surprised me by saying that Fox was not the name she had spoken, re Jerry A. She was very definite—that Fox wasn’t correct, saying I had misunderstood her. [...] We speculated about Foch or Foche; Jane said the name was one syllable with a softer sound than Fox—hence Foss. [...]

(Our cat, Willy, now jumped up in Jane’s lap. Without coming out of trance Jane put him down and resumed.)

(Then, Jane in the same dream found herself in an old persons’ home. [...] Jane’s friend Dee Masters, who had once been director at the gallery where Jane works, and who has been dealt with by Seth at various times, was doing something at an agitator-type washing machine. Jane also fussed with the machine, and a small quantity of water dropped from it onto the floor. Jane then had the feeling that somehow she, Jane, was the old woman who had died.

(On September 7 Jane had an odd dream. [...] Jane envied her greatly.

(On September 9 Jane dreamed that she spoke to two sick men, saying to them, “Don’t worry. [...] Jane said the puzzling thing about this little dream was that in spite of its unpleasant content she felt no sense of alarm or danger or worry, that indeed she spoke to the two men quite cheerfully. [...]

(Today Jane heard from Tam that Prentice-Hall had signed a contract with a Dutch publisher for a translation of Seth Speaks into that language. [...] Tam told Jane that at our request he’d checked with John Nelson, who in turn had checked the contract with the Swiss publisher, to the effect that the German-language translation of Seth Speaks is definitely not to be cut, as that particular publisher had wanted to do a couple of years ago. So the two foreign-language editions of that book are certainly good news —the kind that Seth wants Jane to list daily, as he suggested she do. [...]

(Today I mentioned to Jane that I’d like Seth to discuss any beliefs she might still have that might reinforce feelings that it still wasn’t safe to recover fully. We’ve given up using the pendulum to check out such things, and I wanted to know what might be operating to either slow up Jane’s recovery—which, after all, is still moving along—or perhaps to delay it indefinitely. Jane agreed. [...]

[...] Jane’s delivery had been fast and sure throughout, the material unexpected but excellent. It would be most interesting, I told Jane, if eventually we could manage to check out some of Seth’s material on the surviving members of the family discussed this evening—after the wounds had healed, and provided any of them would be willing to talk about what had happened. Personally, I’d not try it for fear of prying, nor do I think Jane would.

(I’ve reread the last session to Jane from my notes each morning since it was held. The question I asked at its end—about what effects my opinions of Prentice-Hall might have had on Jane over the years—has been on my mind ever since I asked it, and Seth replied that it was “too big a subject” to go into at once. Tonight I explained to Jane after supper that I now believed many of my opinions were taken by her as negative personal opinions about her work and efforts—which meant, I added, that they must have contributed at least substantially to her symptoms over the years. [...]

(Speaking of Prentice-Hall, today Jane received her first copy of God of Jane—a handsome-looking volume that I hope does well as the years pass. [...] I told Jane I think it’s her best book yet. [...]

(Jane tried to half-heartedly deny this, without really considering the question, I thought—not that I wanted her to to any great degree before Seth got into it. [...] But I told Jane that now I’d need advice on how to handle my reactions to Prentice-Hall so as not to alarm her further. [...]

[...] During break I mentioned two questions to Jane, without insisting upon getting answers this afternoon. [...] Jane could see it from her chair.

(A note: Publicity at Prentice-Hall also told Jane that Newsweek Magazine might do a story or review re Seth, and that this might take place within two or three weeks, etc. Jane evidently wouldn’t have anything to do with this venture.

(The first day after Jane got the call, we thought of all the reasons we didn’t want to do the show—including the material on the show and Susskind in Daniel Logan’s book, The Reluctant Prophet. The next morning, I arose with the thought that all our stewing was after all academic—Jane’s symptoms would prevent us from being on the show to begin with —we couldn’t see her physically negotiating airports, taxis, hotels, studios, New York City, etc.)

(At about 3:30 PM last Thursday, Jane participated in a startling experience —one that we hoped Seth would at least mention this evening. At that time Jane was sitting at the kitchen table, perhaps seven feet from the open porch door. [...] A thunderstorm had been trying to develop for some little while; finally it began to rain and blow as I helped Jane prepare a dish to be baked for our evening meal.

[...] The broken glass had catapulted toward Jane, yet she sat unharmed by the razor-like edges. [...] In some strange quirk of speed and physics, this knife-edged piece had not only been blown into the kitchen, but had managed to turn nearly a right angle, missing Jane, in order to come to rest opposite her legs against the table’s leg. [...]

(Jane became so relaxed as session time approached that she told me several times that she’d have to put off the session until tomorrow night. [...] Jane also sensed more information pertaining to my questions of a few sessions ago, on the relationship of disease with human beings.

When the two of you work with Framework 2 then, say, Jane one and Rob one can help each other help Jane two and Rob two also, so that you add to your benefits. [...]

Do have Ruburt ask the natural Jane (Jane one) what to do when there are difficulties, so that the natural self at least gets a chance to give an opinion. [...]

(This noon Jane and I signed our wills, with, naturally, Bill Danaher and his wife as witnesses. [...]

[...] (Jane’s parapsychology classes.) Thursday evening is a good time. [...] He (meaning Jane) will learn much from them, and he shall help others.

[...] A Planned Parenthood clinic is to be opened soon in Elmira; neither Jane nor I knew this. [...] Jane and I did not know of his involvement here.

[...] Jane began to speak for Seth, in trance, after we had discussed the 364th session with J. Bradley, who is a medical salesman for Searle Drug.

[...] But I know that I’ve also met a counterpart outside of class, and later in life: Laurel Lee Davies, the beautiful young lady from Iowa who’s been my loving companion for some years now, following Jane’s death in 1984. [...] She is doing invaluable work as a research and editorial assistant; studying Jane’s notebooks, journals, and poetry, and putting together material from those sources to be included in this book. [...] Laurel has been involved with Jane’s, Seth’s, and my work since November of 1979, when she was 24 years old. [...] Laurel began writing to Jane and me in 1980 — while Seth was dictating The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events and Jane was writing her God of Jane. [...]

3. Tam Mossman was the editor at Prentice-Hall for both Jane and Sue. Conversations With Seth is Sue’s fine two-volume account of the ESP classes Jane held from September 1967 to February 1975. Tam’s enthusiastic and intuitive help was always invaluable to Jane, ever since he encouraged her to publish her first book, The Seth Material, in 1970.

[...] Jane has been feeling considerably better: “My backside feels 75% better,” she said again now. [...] Jane has done excellent work interpreting the dreams; some of my nighttime excursions have resulted from these sessions on the magical approach.